The road of struggles continues for men’s basketball, as the Eagles lost a nail-biter at Hope International University, 50-49.

Freshman guard Dakari Archer led the Eagles with 21 points, five rebounds and an assist. Archer was the only Biola player to reach double digits, as fellow guard Pierre Zook had an uncharacteristic night, tying his season low with just four points.

The Biola big men, senior forward Andre Murillo and junior forward Mike Kurtz, combined for just eight points, shooting three for 10 from the field. Murillo did have six boards which helped the Eagles out-rebound the Royals 30-26, but he just couldn’t get the offensive production going.

This is the first game this season in which both Kurtz and Murillo failed to reach double digits in points or rebounds.

While equal in many categories with the Royals, the Eagles lost the turnover battle, giving up the ball 13 times to Hope’s 10.

Arguably the most interesting stat of the night came in the last two minutes and 33 seconds of the game, when no Biola player scored a single point. A last second tip attempt by Kurtz rolled off the rim to seal the Eagles’ fate.

The loss drops the Eagles in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings to sixth with a 5-6 conference record. Hope International and the Master’s College also are 5-6 but hold the tiebreaker over Biola due to overall record.

With just three games remaining in the regular season, the Eagles will need to win out and get some help from other teams to procure a home game for the opening round of the GSAC Championship Tournament.

The Eagles head to Irvine this weekend to throw down with No. 15 Concordia University Irvine. Biola won at home against Concordia earlier this season, but they have clearly proven to be a different team on the road.